


Man on the Moon

by wolfzaa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Ficlet, Gen, I don't know if I can call this fluff, M/M, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 11:53:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9895367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfzaa/pseuds/wolfzaa
Summary: “Have you ever heard of the man on the moon?”“No.” Sirius arched his eyebrow. “Muggles tale?”“My mom used to tell me when I was a kid,” Remus answered quietly. “There was a lonely, cruel man living on the moon and was likely to kidnap kids who stayed up too late.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> A short ficlet about Sirius, Remus, and some bedtime stories during Marauders' era ;)

“Have you ever heard of the man on the moon?”

“No.” Sirius arched his eyebrow. “Muggles tale?”

“Kind of. Maybe. I don’t know,” Remus muttered as his gaze drifted far away through the night sky. They were on top of the Astronomy Tower at midnight. He was a prefect, but he stopped caring about the fact after Sirius shot him his best puppy eyes. He could never say no to that. He could never say no to whatever Sirius shot him, to be honest. Stargazing once in a while wasn’t a bad idea to begin with. Remus had once loved nightfall until he had gone through the worst nightmare eleven years ago. Having Sirius besides him made the nighttime more bearable. It wasn’t about being surrounded by the thick, cold darkness anymore. It was about him and Sirius wrapped in the same blanket, snuggling together under the sea of stars.

“What is it about?” asked Sirius.

“My mom used to tell me when I was a kid,” Remus answered quietly. “There was a lonely, cruel man living on the moon and was likely to kidnap kids who stayed up too late.”

“Weird.”

“Typical muggles way to rush kids to their beds,” the boy explained. “And I was, you know? The night I was lost in the forest...”

Sirius’s body went rigid. “Remus---”

“Dad told me the whole thing -- what I’ve become -- but I didn’t understand. Mom later told me it was the man on the moon. He wanted to kidnap me but he failed, because I was a good boy---” Remus let out a small chuckle, or a choke, Sirius wasn’t quite sure yet. “---So he trapped me inside the monster every full moon instead.”

Sirius pulled the other boy closer until Remus’s head leaned comfortably against his shoulder. They sat quietly for Merlin-knew-how-long before Sirius spoke up, “She’s a gorgeous bitch, isn’t she?”

“Who?”

“The moon.”

Remus hummed, “Guess she is.”

“I’ve heard a tale that she’s alive,” Sirius continued. “They all are: the moon, the sun, those stars -- and they’re all cruel beautiful bitches, if you ask me. The moon has a thousand curses in hands, the sun is ready to burn you to death, and the stars are devious as hell.”

“That’s what they tell kids before they go to bed?”

“Inspiring, aren’t they?” Sirius snorted. “I read them when I was six. I kinda obsessed with them back then. I mean, my name is a constellation and my lovely mother never once told me a bedtime story, so I had to look it up myself. I’m not sure there’s nothing good about them or my family’s collection just sucks.”

“Why don’t you ask James?” Remus mumbled. “He might know.”

“Nah, I’m not that curious.” Sirius rolled his eyes, though Remus suspected that he didn’t want to share this information with James. Of course, James and Sirius could do many things; only that emotional talk didn’t suit them. Remus knew he was being selfish, but he was glad Sirius trusted him enough to let him see his vulnerable side -- his darkness, his fear, his secrets... his ‘Black’, the way James had never seen.

This side of Sirius was reserved only for him.

“And you know, maybe the man on the moon wasn’t that bad.”

That caught Remus off guard. “What? Why?”

“He didn’t take you away from me.”

Their eyes properly met for the first time that night. Remus was stunned for the briefest moment. Then he laughed into his friend’s shirt, letting the warmth spread throughout his body as Sirius planted kisses on his hair.

Maybe his mom’s story wasn’t so bad this way.


End file.
